Tattoo Convention Warsaw Poland 2017

Tattoo Convention Warsaw, Poland 2017

The start of October marked the entrance of Autumn with one of the world’s biggest tattoo conventions! The Warsaw Tattoo Convention took place in its titular city, attracting people to Poland from across the globe. Over 250 artists from around the globe attended to display, with many more artists arriving as visitors to look over the latest fashions of our trade. With a plethora of concerts, panels, performances, workshops, and even activities for kids, Warsaw definitely fulfilled everyone’s desires this year.

In case you missed the big party, the amazing Kamila Burzymowska has you covered with these breathtaking images from the con. From quirky to intimate, wild to traditional, these tattoos show off the wide range of artistic movements in the tattoo industry. This glimpse into the ever-changing art of tattoo inking lets us all take something new home. Sit back, relax, and check out the amazing images and stories straight from the Oberon 3D Warsaw Tattoo Convention!

All-star Artists Journey to the Con

The call for artists resounded across the globe. Artists like Sandra Cunha and Fredao Oliveira flew in from Brazil—all the way across the globe! Ho Rikaka brought traditional Japanese Irezumi to the convention, while Saga Anderson brought her advanced coloring techniques all the way from Canada. Alongside artists from around the world, nearly every tattoo artist in Poland showed up—except, of course, whoever was left to tend to the shop. In all, more than 250 arrived at the scene for Warsaw’s biggest tattoo party!

Whole families went with a few of the artists, since the Warsaw Tattoo Convention boasts activities for kids! On top of that, everyone under 13 years old received free admission. This gave everyone an opportunity to expose their family to the wonderful world of tattoo art! On top of its accessibility for people of all ages, it also shows off tattoos from people of all cultures and locales. In sum, visiting Warsaw Tattoo Convention feels like taking a step into a foreign and exciting world where only art matters!

Amazing Convention Tattoos

As you see from these wonderful images by Kamila, the convention brought together all kinds of tattoo styles. Amazing realistic pieces happened right next to neo-traditional tattoos. Watercolor tattoos, black outlines, and traditional color pigment techniques created a huge variety of final pieces. One tattoo shows the hooded, one-eyed Odin with one of his ravens, while another shows the exchange of life and death during a tiger’s hunt. Surreal tattoos with impossible anatomy contrasted geometric and tribal tattoos.

My favorite among them all isn’t revolutionary, but it is neat-looking! A woman lit below by pink wears some sort of unicorn headdress—and said unicorn shows off the cosmos in its fur! With a limited color scheme, this artist combined surreal, geometrical, and watercolor techniques to make a fantastic tattoo. At the same time, I clearly show a bias: space is up there on my list of cool things.

Inspiring Exhibitions

Their most amazing exhibit focused on the tales of Maui, a Polynesian demigod that features in the Disney movie Moana. Of course, in Poland, it’s called Vaiana: The Treasure of the Ocean to avoid a few cultural issues. Known for his ability to hook the sun, pull up islands from the sea, and generally get up to mischief, this demigod also features a whole slew of tribal tattoos in the most traditional sense all over his body. Everyone at the shop created their own talisman to keep them safe and bring them closer to the living world around us, just like the one Moana received! On top of that, Banana-Ink provided an area where kids can practice tattooing on banana peels. Who would let a kid go crazy on real skin, after all?

On top of Maui, several other characters in the movie carried traditional tribal tattoos. Moana’s grandmother carried a manta ray on her back, while one poor soul underwent the painstaking tattoo process during the early part of the movie. Several artists used this traditional ethnic tattoo method—called hand tapping—throughout the convention. We cover traditional Polynesian tattoos in a few of our articles, including the technique, meaning, and history behind them.

The Future of the Warsaw Tattoo Convention

From October 6-8^th, tattoo lovers from around the world shared their awesome art and culture. People walked home with new insight of the world around them…and some new tattoos! Alongside performers, singers, and musicians, illusionists took over the stage and created an amazing show for everyone. Food trucks arrived en masse to feed everyone, jewelers showed up to expand the body modification scene, and Oberon 3D showed off their cool machines. After all, Oberon 3D sponsored the whole thing.

In the end, this con brought a whole new generation of people together to appreciate the wonderful Inked World of tattoo art. We can’t thank photographer Kamila Burzymowska enough for snapping these pictures and sharing her wonderful experience at the convention! Check out her Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or official website for more awesome pictures of the tattoo scene.

As always, thanks for reading! For more information on the convention itself, look at its official homepage!

~Sara

InkDoneRight

The post Tattoo Convention Warsaw Poland 2017 appeared first on InkDoneRight.

Arm Tattoos

Arm Tattoos

A small wrist tattoo or ankle tattoo brings you into the tattoo world, but after you enter this realm of art, upgrading to a full-fledged arm tattoo looks appealing. And you know what? It’s totally worth it. Today, let’s talk about the awesome world of arm tattoos! The long and curved surface of arms poses a unique challenge of creativity to designers and artists. A sleeve needs to look good from every angle, after all! On top of that, you personally need to work around the pain associated with arm tattoos. Armpits and the pit of your elbow feel absolutely horrible to tattoo (Read: Best Tattoo Numbing Product). This article details some ways around that while offering some creative and unique design tips!

 

Simple Arm Tattoos

Small arm tattoos fit on the wrist, but you can easily extend them to half sleeves or full sleeves. Even for arm name tattoos, working to fit your old tattoos into the larger arm tattoos creates a fun challenge for your artist. Simple arm tattoos include Celtic tribal tattoos, Polynesian tattoos, symbols that represent your religion or creed, and quotes that you adore. Polynesian tattoos in particular use a special technique for their arm tattoos. For men, half sleeves show strength, respect, and maturity. The tribal markings carry deep meaning, and your artist selects ones that most match your personality. Whether you pick right or left arm tattoos, even simple designs show your dedication to the craft.

 

Sleeve Tattoos

As previously mentioned, artists need to create sleeve designs that look good from all angles. Experts utilize the curved space to create three dimensional images. Other curved objects, such as skulls, blooming roses, and spheres. Geometrical designs also look great, even if the design looks ‘flat.’ The curve simply adds depth to the design! Including three dimensional shading on top of that creates a picture that pops. Murals work perfectly for large sleeves, although remain wary of the painful areas. Many people stop with their sleeve halfway because of the pain. To mitigate this, consider asking your artist about numbing creams.

 

Best Arm Tattoos Ever

So, want the best arm tattoos ever? Arm tattoos for girls include flowers often, and for good reason! Flowers symbolize many different things, including beauty, love, and death. Religious symbols like crosses, angels, saints, and gods represent your inner self and certainly rank among the best tattoos. Traditional designs like Japanese tattoos and Polynesian tattoos hold deep significance to those who recognize the symbols. Lastly—and my personal favorite—colorful murals that wrap around the arm and display awesome scenes or characters look spectacular!

 

Arm Tattoos and You

In the end, arm tattoos provide a very visible way to express yourself. Whether you choose minimalist geometric designs, large black and white religious icons, or colorful wrap-around sleeves, all of them come to represent you. When people look to recognize you, they look for your tattoo in the crowd. So, what are you waiting for? Dive into the foray of arm tattoos and enjoy the wicked designs!

Related: Full Tattoo Aftercare Guide

The post Arm Tattoos appeared first on InkDoneRight.

How Long After a Tattoo Can you Tan?

How Long After a Tattoo Can you Tan?

As someone intimately familiar with body modification, it’s no wonder you want to know how long after a tattoo can you tan. After all, tattoos spew extra ink, plasma, and gunk out for the first few days of healing. To top it off, once that’s done, it constantly peels and itches as if it received a horrible sunburn. Naturally, tanning seems like a strange thing to combine with a healing tattoo, but I know a few ways to play your cards right. Use this little guide to learn about the hazards of tanning with a tattoo, how to prevent them, and even how to keep your tattoo looking awesome for your entire life! For more general information—including how to heal your tattoo faster—our other guide may work better for you.

 

Tattoos can fade when exposed to the sun! Make sure you protect your skin and especially your ink when you enjoy the great days outside. Below is our favorite tattoo sunscreen product. Read our full reviews here!

H2Ocean SPF 45 Sea Life Sunscreen

H2Ocean has made it’s way to one of the top brands in the Tattoo Aftercare industry. Recommended by artists and users and the best tattoo sunscreen you can get. It does it’s job and it comes with a moderate price.

Buy on Amazon

 

New Tattoos and Sunlight

Can you put sunscreen on a new tattoo? Whenever you deal with any sort of wound—especially large and deep ones like a tattoo—your skin damage prevents any protection from the sun. Your skin exists to block out harmful UV rays and fierce sunlight, so when you take that away, you end up with colossal burns whenever you soak up the sun. With that said, let’s add tanning to the formula. Tanning in the sun causes the exact same sort of damage a sunburn would, except much faster. With tanning booths, it induces the same type of effect in your skin, and poses the same risk.

But wait, that’s not all! Tanning creates unique conditions for your tattoo ink. You know about laser tattoo removal, the miracle treatment that zaps tattoos away, right? Well, it works because high concentrations of light pierce through the skin and break down the ink molecules. At smaller sizes, the immune system disposes of the ink properly, and the tattoo disappears. With sunlight, it uses the exact same type of light—just at lower concentrations. When you remove the only thing protecting your body from a sun burn—your skin—you end up with a very faded tattoo and horrible burn. We provide detailed information on this and other risks during tattoo healing in our full guide. 

 

How to Use a Tanning Bed After a Tattoo

Okay, we know about how light and tattoos interact. So, how long after getting a tattoo can you fake tan? And can you tan with a new tattoo if you cover it? Let’s start with the basics. In order to tan at all, you need proper protection. Two different ways exist to keep your tattoo and body safe during a tan. I go over them both here.

First, directly covering a tattoo with some sort of cloth will keep it perfectly safe. Since not all fabric blocks UVB and UVA, I recommend applying sunscreen to the cloth itself. Make sure none of it goes onto your tattoo, as that would damage your ink and potentially cause illness for you. And yes, I promise putting sunscreen on top of clothing works. Just don’t do it on a regular basis.

 

The second method involves the use of tattoo-safe tanning lotion or sunscreen product. For tattoo tanning lotions, they provide nutrients for your skin that keep it nice and healthy. It also provides protection from a broad range of light—not just the ones we use to tan. Tattoo sunscreen, on the other hand, uses safe ingredients for consistent use on your tattoo. I recommend covering the area of your tattoo with as much precision as you can muster, unless you like a swath of light skin around your tattoo. Unfortunately, tattoos and suntan lotions never get along at the early stages of tattoo healing.

 

When Can I Expose my Tattoo to the Sun?

When can I put sunscreen on a new tattoo? Okay, nobody likes covering up their tattoo, but a lady’s gotta tan. So, when can you wear that tattoo with pride? Or, if that wait turns out to be too long, when can you use sunscreen? Your tattoo takes a while to heal, obviously. For the first stage of healing, you need to use special soaps to keep it constantly clean and dry without using too much water or clogging it up. It bleeds, oozes, and generally makes a mess of everything. Tanning during this time instantly ruins your tattoo and hurts like hell. No matter what, wait until after this stage.

During stage two, things slow down and your skin starts healing properly. Congratulations, with skin in place, you can finally tan! Well, if you’re alright with a poorly healed and faded tattoo. The skin barely forms a layer over the tattoo. Light takes a little extra time to burn it, but tanning still treats your skin too harshly. At this point, you already use moisturizers on your skin to keep flaking at bay and itchiness down. Once your skin stops ‘absorbing’ your thin treatments, it contains enough moisture to stand up to tanning. This page goes over some tattoo-safe tanning lotions and sunscreens. Nonetheless, I recommend waiting between six weeks to two months to start tanning.

 

Tattoo Tanning FAQ

I bet some little questions still haunt your mind, and I will try my best to answer them! If you see a missing question, go ahead and leave us a comment. We respond to all questions very quickly, I promise!

How long after getting a tattoo can you go swimming?

It takes exactly as long as it does to wait for a tan. Your healing tattoo opens your body up to all sorts of germs. With modern medicine and hygienic technology, we sometimes forget that improper care still poses the greatest risk to tattooing.

What happens to tattoos when I get a tan?

Your tattoo invariably fades with tanning. Not dramatically, of course, but enough to notice after a few years. The sun represents the greatest enemy of tattoos, so spending extra time in sunlight (or simulated sunlight) leads to advanced aging. I recommend frequent touch ups to keep it looking nice, or you could simply try some tattoo tanning lotion.

 

Tattoos and Tanning in Harmony

Ultimately, your tattoo sticks with you for life. Wearing it involves exercising responsibility over your body. The best way to keep your skin safe is to use sunscreen. New tattoo or not, tanning or going pale, your skin benefits greatly from sunscreen. It protects against sunburns, skin cancer, and fading tattoos. Why go without? Anyways, hopefully this helped you learn about the limits of tanning and tattoos. Any responsible person can combine the two harmoniously, as long as you wait a bit after a new tattoo! For more information on tattoo healing, check out our awesome guide on all things tattoo care!

Sara

InkDoneRight

Tattoos can fade when exposed to the sun! Make sure you protect your skin and especially your ink when you enjoy the great days outside. Below is our favorite tattoo sunscreen product. Read our full reviews here!

H2Ocean SPF 45 Sea Life Sunscreen

H2Ocean has made it’s way to one of the top brands in the Tattoo Aftercare industry. Recommended by artists and users and the best tattoo sunscreen you can get. It does it’s job and it comes with a moderate price.

Buy on Amazon

The post How Long After a Tattoo Can you Tan? appeared first on InkDoneRight.

Can You Drink Alcohol Before or After Getting a Tattoo?

Can You Drink Alcohol Before or After Getting a Tattoo?

Is it bad to drink the night before getting a tattoo? Or, is it OK to drink after getting a tattoo? Everyone sees the rules plastered on the walls of each tattoo shop with some variation of no alcohol allowed, no drunk clients, sober customers only, but what defines that, and why is it necessary? Believe it or not, more than legality goes into these rules. The amount of alcohol in your system actually affects the tattooing process! This article answers everything you need to know about how you can drink alcohol before or after getting a tattoo.

 

Drinking the Night Before a Tattoo

Drinking before getting a tattoo leaves a lingering effect that artists hate. First of all, legally speaking, artists never tattoo someone who looks the slightest bit impaired. Someone who received a  tattoo while drunk may press charges against the artist or their shop, since they never gave proper consent to the tattoo. It causes all sorts of problems in that regard, but also leads to a high amount of tattoo remorse. Artists try to avoid client dissatisfaction like the plague, and any time it happens, they feel down about it themselves. Lastly, drunk tattoo designs look horrible. We go into more depth in our complete tattoo guide.

So, let’s say you have everything planned ahead of time, and you set it up so that your tattoo looks perfect and your artist okays it. Well, why would the artist dislike your choice to consume alcohol before the appointment, just to take off a little of the pain? In actuality, alcohol thins your blood and causes a lot of bleeding during the inking process. This makes a gigantic mess, on top of adding an extra challenge for your artist to handle. You want your artist to see your tattoo clearly, not clean it every few seconds just to figure out their progress.

How to Thicken Your Blood Before a Tattoo

Okay, you know not to tattoo while drunk. How can you alleviate some residual effects of alcohol in your system? Simply put, eat a healthy diet! On top of anything that helps you with hangovers, proper nutrition helps your body handle alcohol and the stress of a tattoo. Vitamin K1 and K2 help by promoting clotting in the event of a wound—like a tattoo. Doctors use it in treatments to prevent excessive bleeding from certain poisons and medicines. It works just as well on alcohol! However, it takes time for your body to absorb vitamins, and supplements usually offer K1 without K2. Eat leafy greens to increase its bioavailability!

 

Many concerned internet citizens will insist that jello thickens your blood up for a tattoo. That’s the silliest thing, albeit a very tasty way to prep for your new art piece. For more information on how to prepare for your tattoo, check out our ultimate tattoo care and tattoo aftercare guide.

 

Drinking Beer After a Tattoo

Can you drink alcohol after getting a tattoo? Once everything winds down and your tattoo looks awesome, why not settle back and enjoy a nice, refreshing beer at the end of the day? Well, unfortunately, alcohol after tattoo work still causes excess bleeding. During stage one of the tattoo healing process, your tattoo takes about three days to finish clotting. Alcohol makes that take longer, and sometimes keeps the wound open and prone to infection. For drinking after getting a tattoo, wait at least 48 hours after you receive the tattoo to drink. If you give in to temptation, expect a big mess to clean up whenever you rinse your tattoo.

 

Alcohol and Tattoo Healing

Continuing to drink while your tattoo heals further extends the healing process. In order to process the alcohol, your body diverts resources to your liver. While not deadly or anything, this means your skin will not repair itself to the fullest. A tattoo normally takes three days to finish stage one of healing—the most important and vulnerable stage—and then several more weeks to finish stage two. If you want to take it safe, skip the beer until the tattoo stops peeling. After that, drink to your heart’s content! We go over much more information about the healing process—and how you can speed it up—here.

Drinking Before and After Getting a Tattoo

In the end, drinking before and after your tattoo poses a risk to your artist and your healing process, but helps cope with the pain a little bit. Of course, topical anesthetics work better for that, but to each his own. Always err on the side of caution when it comes to your body. Cut back your drinking before your appointment and wait until your tattoo scabs over before going back. This keeps you in good spirits, your skin healthy, and your tattoo looking better, faster.

Sara

InkDoneRight

The post Can You Drink Alcohol Before or After Getting a Tattoo? appeared first on InkDoneRight.

Tattoo Convention Deauville France 2017

Music Tattoos

Music Tattoos

Anyone with a pair of working ears knows that a good rhythm reaches the heart better than visual art. Music influences our emotions—with somber tunes causing a bit of wistfulness or with peppy pop music picking up our spirits. The visual comfort of music-based simulations and the vibration of loud music through our bones makes it something we feel on many different levels of our senses. By inscribing yourself with a music tattoo, you carry a permanent connection to this amazing language of sound. Today, let’s check out this gallery of amazing music tattoos and talk about their meanings!

 

Music Note Tattoos Meaning

Music tattoo designs use the G clef (also called the treble clef) as their subject most often. The symbol represents a very, very stylized G. It assigns the location of the G note on the scale. Similar clefs include the Alto/Tenor clefs, Bass clefs, and Octave clef. Music note star tattoos combine the whimsical experience of music with the radiance of the stars. Of course, it may also reference ‘pop stars.’ Incorporating a music note heart tattoo means that you love music with all your heart. Music tattoo ideas for guys look about the same as girl tattoos, since music notes represent music, not anything intrinsically ‘girly.’

 

Music Note Tattoo Designs

Music tattoos on the wrist show everyone your love for music immediately. Small music tattoos like tiny music notes, little treble clefs, and song notation all contribute to both a visual and musical testament. Clever musicians may even recognize the notes of your song and ask you about it! For an alternative way of depicting music, using references to digital music looks unique and creative. A sound waveform captures a fleeting moment of the song (or even simply words), while also resembling a mountain. Controls for music players (both digital and analogue) show how you perceive life—as a song that plays out.

 

Music Tattoo Sleeve

Small music tattoos for guys and girls look great, but what about sleeves? Music note tattoos that wrap around the arm allow for greater detail. An entire song wraps around an arm, if you opt for music notation. However, music notes and their song sometimes give way to the actual singers. That is to say, instruments! Or literal singers. Take your pick. Huge guitars, microphones, violins, piano keys, and more all fill up music-themed half sleeve tattoos. A single stylized instrument also works for music tattoos on the forearm.

 

Beautiful Music Tattoos

Music note tattoos behind the ear show that you constantly listen for the tune of the world around you. Tattoos of music notes and symbols all depict wonderful sights and sounds to the people around you. Many people take for granted the amazing world we live in, sticking to their phones and tablets instead of experiencing their lives. On the other hand, music overcomes many of our senses. With vision, touch, and hearing all covered, you connect your life to the great intricacies of the world through music tattoos!

Related: Full Tattoo Aftercare Guide

The post Music Tattoos appeared first on InkDoneRight.